thephotosocietyのインスタグラム(thephotosociety) - 11月27日 12時18分

Photo: @melissafarlow | I thought they were pretty cool, but I never realized what a rare and precious moment it would be to photograph this sunflower sea star. That was before a mysterious wasting disease caused millions of starfish to lose their limbs and disintengrate into a pile of slime.
Scientists believe that a densovirus has devastated over 20 different species of sea stars along the Pacific coast. The recent epidemic affected not only sunstars like the Pycnopodiahelianthoides, but the five-legged orange and ochre species commonly found in tide pools from southern California to Alaska.
Researchers are studying the effect of increased acid in the oceans and how it affects marine ecosystems. It is believed that climate change causes the acidification and that it may be a factor in triggering the current outbreak. Unable to adapt to a changing habitat, starfish are weakened and made more vulnerable to disease. The hope is that a crop of newly hatched starfish will adapt and survive to repopulate the oceans.

In the LA times there is a quote that says
There is a glimmer of hope however. Massive numbers of juvenile starfish, about the size of a thumbnail, have started to show up in some areas of the Pacific Coast near Sonoma and in the Santa Barbara basin. @ナショナルジオグラフィック @thephotosociety @theimagereview
#starfish #sunstars #ocean #ecosystem #sick #sad #virus #Pacific #pnw #alaska #seastar #marine #climate change #sad #strange #science #nature #wildlife

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